Settlement began in this area of Brown County
after the Civil War when several families
from southern states moved here. They
formed
a community, initially known as Cross
Out.
It became Cross Cut in 1897 when an
error
was made on a post office application.
Caroline
Pentecost Elsberry was the first person
buried
in this community cemetery in July
1879.
The two-acre plot of land dedicated
as a
graveyard is believed to have been
donated
by Mark and Sarah Pentecost. Oil was
discovered
in 1923 in the Cross Cut sand formation.
The small town quickly swelled to accommodate
the increase in population and several
new
businesses were added. By 1940 the
population
of the town was exceeded by the number
of
burials in the cemetery. In 1954 the
Cross
Cut School consolidated with Cross
Plains
Schools, and the town declined thereafter.
Only a few buildings and the cemetery
remain.
Among those buried here are early settlers
and their descendants, and veterans
of conflicts
from the Civil War through the Vietnam
War.
A cemetery association was formed in
1976,
and a perpetual care trust was established.
The site continues to serve the area.
(1997)